Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Mar 2;6(2):e00387.
doi: 10.1002/prp2.387. eCollection 2018 Apr.

Assessment of self-reporting reading of medicine's labels and the resources of information about medicines in general public in Malaysia

Omar T Dawood  1 , Mohamed A Hassali  2 , Fahad Saleem  3 , Inas R Ibrahim  2
Affiliations

Assessment of self-reporting reading of medicine's labels and the resources of information about medicines in general public in Malaysia

Omar T Dawood et al. Pharmacol Res Perspect. .

Abstract

This study was undertaken to assess the people's self-reported reading of medicine labels and its associated factors and to assess the sources of information about medicines among general public. A cross-sectional study was carried out among general public in the State of Penang, Malaysia. A total of 888 participants were conveniently selected and completed the survey. A self-administered questionnaire was used to obtain the data from all the participants. Most of the participants (74.2%) reported that they have adequate information about medicines provided on their medicine labels. In addition, 86.9% of them reported that they read their medicine's label for the directions of usage and 84.3% for the dosage instruction. However, 42.1% of the participants do not read their medicine's label for the active ingredients, and 33% of them do not read their medicine's label for the safety information. In addition, 36.5% of the respondents did not read the label of medicine for the symptoms which can be used for. However, females, Malay respondents, and higher education level (college/university) were more likely to self-reported the reading medicine's label. Females were more likely to read the labels of medicines compared with males (OR = 1.6, 95% CI 1.20-2.13, P = .001). The reading of medicine labels was predicted by females, Malay respondents, and higher educated people. Health educational programs are needed to clarify label's information that can help in concept of patient safety.

Keywords: medicine information; medicine labeling; perception; public.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The first source of medicine information among the respondents
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Sahril N, Mahmud SZ, Saari R, Naidu BM, Hamid HAA, Mutalip MHA. Medication labeling literacy among Malaysian with diabetes: a cross‐sectional study. J Diabetes Res Clin Metab. 2012;1:23.
    1. Brown‐Brumfield D, DeLeon A. Adherence to a medication safety protocol: current practice for labeling medications and solutions on the sterile field. AORN J. 91:610–617. - PubMed
    1. Moisan J, Gaudet M, Grégoire J‐P, Bouchard R. Non‐compliance with drug treatment and reading difficulties with regard to prescription labelling among seniors. Gerontology. 2002;48:44–51. - PubMed
    1. Shrank WH, Avorn J. Educating patients about their medications: the potential and limitations of written drug information. Health Aff. 2007;26:731–740. - PubMed
    1. Svarstad BL, Bultman DC, Mount JK. Patient counseling provided in community pharmacies: effects of state regulation, pharmacist age, and busyness. J Am Pharm Assoc. 2003;44:22–29. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources